25:30 minutes later. "What's your name? Age?" and the number 36 was scribbled down on a paper. Runner 365 had beaten her record by more than 10 minutes! I was so thrilled, that behind all that exhaustion and possible collapsation, the first thing I did was go get my medal. It wasn't clear what that number 36 meant, but all I knew was that I beat my record. I had pushed my limits. |
I was agitated, happy, fidgety, but most of all NERVOUS. I had ran more than five kilometers many times before, but the fact that there was a tracking chip on my shoe, and that I wasn't Camila, but Runner 365, changed the situation. It wasn't the same as running many times around my local street. I was being timed; this was what scared me the most. I had only timed myself once before, and I ran a five-kilometer distance in more than 35 minutes a couple of months ago, so I hadn't the least idea what to expect. No expectations, no disappointments? Was that how the saying went? Well, I could only agree to some extent, because though you can't get disappointed, you do get extremely nervous, in my case. I would have never thought I'd find myself writing one of these (what I'd call) "cheesy" posts, but I had never viewed from a different perspective. Behind all the support, all the positive remarks, and all the opinions, I came to realize that what truly allows you to push limits is yourself. Nobody has the power to motivate someone more than the person itself. There were moments where I started considering slowing my pace, but began thinking, "Is this actually my limit? Or is it just my mindset?". I don't think someone else would have asked me this because they wouldn't have known how much I wanted to beat my record. Today I learned that self-motivation, is the greatest kind of motivation, if one is truly willing to believe in him/hers
elf. I pushed my limit today, and today my limit has improved. Will I push it again tomorrow?
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"YOU CAN DO IT!" How strong are these words really? Our project pitch to the parents was a success, and I couldn't feel more satisfied with all we were going to improve, and as excited as ever to start the process! Why this excitement? Was it just because I was driven to the topic? I started thinking to myself for a moment: why are you this excited? It was simple. Because our pitch had resulted not only in criticism, but in positive remarks. I then realized the importance of a simple remark. I feel this in the IA community, but it actually goes well beyond the walls of our classroom; it's a problem with society. People are currently putting so much importance into constructive feedback and criticism to help others improve that they are forgetting the importance and power positive comments have on people. Thoughts of my four-year-old sister began arising. She is the most energetic human being I know, and is always wanting to try new things and stay active, and I started wondering what provoked this excitement towards everything. Maria (my sister) has four older siblings (us) who are always after her, motivating and encouraging her every move. I realized how great it must feel having so much people supporting you with vibes full of positivity. "I would give everything to live that life again, where everything you did was an accomplishment, where I was motivated by all the positive feedback", I thought. Well, why can't that happen now?
In my case, receiving e n d l e s s negative comments with no supportive ones in between, makes me believe that my idea may be pointless. It might not be the case, but that's what immediately comes to my head after being saturated from all the criticism.
Going back to the pitch, we recieved a balance from both sides and all three of us were more motivated than ever. It was a mix of the excitement caused by the audience's excitement, and the will to improve our product to show the audience how we got better. Another time where I felt motivated by the positivity was when I first started running. My dad told me to come with him for a jog, and I was in the mood so I went. "You are actually good at running!", he told me by the end. He used the word good. No great, no talented, just that simple word of positivity eventually drove me to pursue running as my main sport, and it's now one of my favorite things to do. That simple comment made me want to thrive in what i was doing. Attached here is a video where one person took initiative to break a barrier, and motivated thousands of others to do the same. (I bet she was motivated by those who told her/him it was impossible, but also by those who had told her she/he was good at running)
https://vimeo.com/121902104 What exactly are the benefits of q u e s t i o n s ? Questions give you power to control situations. Questions help you gain information Questions aid one's active listening Questions give you bonding opportunites On Monday we presented our project pitch to Mr. Bon, and began to reflect together about our project itself. Our idea was clear, our product was clear, but our why… was only somewhat clear. We knew that we wanted to raise awareness amongst Peruvians so they’d begin respecting and following the human rights, but there had to be more specifying done if we wanted to reach success, which we realized just then. The brainstorming of the questions subsequently began. How did we get to this topic? Are these Peruvians aware of these rights? What difference does it make that the rights are followed? These are just some of the vast amount of questions we came up with, but it’s a point I’m trying to prove here. These questions, this time we put into thinking, was what gave us our why. Like mentioned above, our why had always been to start conversation between the Peruvian citizens to motivate them to make a difference, but coming up with all these questions really helped us delve deeper into actually understanding it. A goal I've set for myself from now on is to, whether out loud or in my mind, ask questions non-stop. Questions are what keep the brain going, what keep it progressing to make individuals smarter and better learners.
so I grew intrigued Today: Sleep is a kind of travel from consiousness and reality into a landscape of dreams and deep rest. Many changes in our bodies arise during the transition from being awake to falling asleep like more fluent breathing patterns and bodies losing heat, but there is one that captured my attention immediately. Sleeping increases the release of the growth hormone. I suddenly got a flashback--when I was seven and would want to stay watching Hannah Montana all night, but my parents would tell me, "You have school tomorrow, and if you don't get enough sleep you won't grow". I obviously thought they were just saying that to make me go to bed. Getting enough sleep was essential at that age, and it still is because growth is just one of the benefits it gives us. Another part of sleeping I was fascinated by, is dreaming.
I am definitely going to get more sleep from now on, and the entire world should because you never know when science will find a way for everyone to remember their dreams. Everything is possible ;)
au·ton·o·my ôˈtänəmē/ freedom from external control or influence; independence. This first week of school was unlike any other for several reasons, but there was something that has really impacted me in a way. On Wednesday we were talking about autonomy and how we want to emphasize this form of culture more often in the IA, so we were given the freedom to pursue any project we'd like, with a group of at least three. Of course we all had to by guided by the same idea--HOW FREE ARE WE--but the choice of who to work with, and what to narrow the idea down to, was entirely up to us. This is truly what autonomy was, and it wasn't nearly as clear to me before.
The goal is to end up streaming this short film on national television, and if this weren't to be successful, we'd share it via social media to make it worldwide. Human rights was a topic that the three of us were 100% up for learning about, because it's not a topic seen on a daily basis and is important for us to have this knowledge. During the class discussion, one group presented an idea that combined most projects together--a website that has articles and videos all related to different aspects of freedom. I thought it was a great idea, but since our goal was to stream it on T.V. , posting it on a website with many other videos/articles along with it, would probably minimize the impact it would have on our intended audience. It was a huge step to take out of the comfort zone, because almost the entire class (besides another group of four), was working on a different product, and the entire "fate" of our project depends on just us three. The three of us discussed and agreed that the responsibility in making this short film was immense, so to move forward with it, all of us had to be very passionate about the topic and product. Luckily, we all agreed (because I was getting a little over-excited :P) and couldn't wait to begin planning everything out. I've never felt more autonomous in my life because it is entirely up to us. We have to find a filmmaking expert to guide us, experts on specific human rights, victims of violated human rights, and end up making a script and final video that looks professional. It's not an easy task, which is why we must be as organized and productive as possible. Because of this, for the first time, I'm really excited/nervous about pursuing this project-- UN PERÚ LIBRE
Here's to a productive break. During the time span between December 20 and this moment, I realized that my productivity level has been higher than during any other vacation. It's served me as a break as well, because for one to maintain a healthy mind-state, breaks are essential, but it hasn't been solely leisure. I feel proud to have found that balance between relaxing in the beach and being with friends, to reading and staying academically active. Most people these past days have been complaining non-stop about these vacations going by too quickly and they aren't ready for school yet, but I can only agree with half of it. This break has passed like a flash because of how much I've done: reading more than ever, doing college research, exercising every day, being with my family and friends, practicing photography, writing every now and then, reading current news--more than I do in winter. The reason I've done so much, I realize now, is because of this break. We're given two months free from being busy for 8 hours, five times a week and I've found out it's only smart to make the best of every minute we can. There's nothing I would love more than to continue being as varied in my productivity as I've been these months, but it's not that easy. I've set my winter goals to continue working on these things I've grown to love, but some will be done more often than others, of course. As for the second part of what every one said that they aren't ready for school yet, I wouldn't agree on this. Before summer began, I enrolled into a SAT course that lasted two weeks and it gave us an idea of what the SAT consisted on. This for me was like a wake-up call because I had forgotten what school was actually like. These courses have not only helped me know what the exam is like, but it also taught me more things such as beginning to read more genres to enlighten my own knowledge, which will eventually help me with the reading section in the SAT. This is just an example of one thing I learned that will serve me for the exam and for academics/real life.
We are all equal, but some of us are more equal than others... This bestseller by George Orwell indirectly reflects on the multiple events that ended up leading to the Russian Revolution in 1917, which then began drifting towards the Soviet Union's "Stalin era". Orwell was against Stalinism which is why he published this book, a couple decades later. Animal Farm is about a group of farm animals somewhere in England, who first live under the power of Mr. Jones. With his incompetent attitude and actions towards the animals, the eldest member of the farm population, Major, wants them all to start an uprising against him and take over the farm. Shortly after Major died, they had already started a revolution and began to identify themselves as the Animal Farm. At first every one was equal, because they all had a common goal: to overcome humans--or how they'd call them: Beasts of England.
Before, vacations for me were nothing more than a break from school. Finally! (or so I thought). Now, with already less than a month left before starting school again, I have developed a whole new perspective on this. Many say vacations are stress-free, and I actually have to agree on this, because even though we could be given some deadlines, the amount diminishes, along with the stress. That, for me is what vacations and breaks are for, but being stress-free doesn't mean doing nothing at all, and this is were the initiative comes in. We are given two months free from school, which is more than enough to switch off completely. This was what I feared the most about summer break because once you're switched off, switching back on doesn't come easy. So, I decided that I would keep myself mentally active at all times, and I set myself goals that were accomplishable. 1. Read at least four days a week (for long periods of time and books of varied genres) 2. Exercise every day (7 times) 3. Be disciplined with my 365 moments challenge It wasn't too much to ask myself for, but it was just enough to keep my brain active and stay disciplined. I have been following these goals since the beginning of summer and feel motivated to complete them by the end of summer vacations. Setting these goals not only helps me maintain my discipline throughout these two months but also makes me feel proud that I'm working to complete my own personal goals. As I have a lot of free time during this break, using it wisely to complete all my activities is only logical to me as I run by a busy schedule in school. Moreover, vacations are the perfect time for me to find a balance between relaxing and staying disciplined.
The definition of a good habit is a behavior that is beneficial to one's physical or mental health, often linked to a high level of discipline and self control. I began to remember how in the July break we were told to create a habit for the entire month, and I actually read much more books than I'd planned. Right after finishing off this semester, a thought came into my mind: why not start a new habit? My July habit actually became somewhat constant, because I would find myself reading a bit every day during the entire semester. Like the definition says, a good habit is beneficial to our physical or mental health, so it couldn't hurt to have more than one right? This is when I came up with 365 moments. Looking back at 2014, I just reflect on what an amazing year it has been, but what actually am I looking back to? The truth is I barely remember; I could recall some, but not all the memories that I've made this year. I thought about how beneficial taking a picture every day for a year, and writing a creative caption to describe each one, was for my own health, and the amount of discipline and self-control that is gained by this, and said to myself: what a great habit. Not only am I improving my photography skills, which is a skill I've began to take interest in, but I am also practicing my writing skills, even if I'm just writing around one sentence a day. Also, the discipline that one must take in order to complete this "challenge" is demanding because I am asking myself to capture 365 moments every day, that indicate memories in the making.
So, we begin talking about how the Breakthrough magazine launch went, and all of a sudden, everyone begins attacking every single component of the documentary. Or, at least that's what it seemed like at first. The class hadn't seen it before, and they were very, (emphasize: VERY) disappointed in how the video turned out. Nikki and I began to think about it as we'd discuss with the class, and we had been putting so much time and effort into making it, so why had it turned out this way? Why was the filming low quality? Why were the transitions so abrupt? Why weren't the voices clear? The class wouldn't stop asking questions like these, and at first my mind was BLANK--I was disappointed in myself and didn't know what to say about all the criticism we were receiving, because I was agreeing with every single bit of it. I couldn't stop thinking about this discussion throughout the course of the entire day, and it was when it hit me. I was lacking PASSION. I had no experience whatsoever at creating videos, and thought it would be interesting and I'd enjoy it, but I was WRONG. Pretty early in the process, I was feeling less motivated by the minute, until the point came where I wasn't putting my all in it; I was just doing it for the good of the class. I couldn't let them down when I was already committed, they were depending on me. But this is where i failed, there was something I could do about it. If I would have just spoken up and said that I wasn't enjoying my job one bit, then we could have talked as a company, and we could have come up with a solution together.
That fear of letting the entire class down was what held me back from saying that I wasn't passionate about the video, but I now realize that I let them down a hundred times worse by not speaking up. No one said these words exactly, but by listening to their negative feedback, I got the message that they actually felt ashamed of the company as a whole, because of the documentary. I realized that lacking passion is actually dangerous for an outcome, because why go beyond in something you aren't really motivated at? Instead of failing fast (realizing that I wasn't passionate), and failing better, I failed in the end, and not only let myself down, but the entire group as well.
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